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> But that is exactly my point. It isn't the policy that is disliked, it is the name. It is the policy that is disliked. If you ask them how much they like hig

> But that is exactly my point. It isn't the policy that is disliked, it is the name. It is the policy that is disliked. If you ask them how much they like higher premiums, they will tell you. You can't just ask about the positive goals and pretend that means they like it. The policy is the entire package, and it includes both. > However if you throw the "Obamacare" label on it the popularity of the bill decreases compared to the same policies labeled as "The Affordable Care Act". The label is enough to cloud the the public's true feelings on the policy. Obamacare is not a derogatory name. It's what it was called all throughout the debate and afterward by the news media and politicians. That some people react less negatively to a name that's less well-known and less widely-used doesn't justify what you're claiming. > Knowing the clouded opinions might help someone get elected but it isn't going to help them write a new healthcare bill that represents the will of the people. These aren't clouded opinions. They're reactions to actual liberal policy in action, and they're not positive. We don't need more affirming of things we already know. What is needed is some retrospection on what happens when tens of thousands of pages of legislation is passed because people like a few bullet points of it when taken out of context.

croon 9y ago
> It is the policy that is disliked. If you ask them how much they like higher premiums, they will tell you. You can't just ask about the positive goals and pretend that means they like it. The policy is the entire package, and it includes both. If that was true the reaction would be the same to Obamacare and ACA, which it isn't.
- moduspol 9y ago
  If it were called Obamacare and ACA in the news media and politics equally, then yes. ...but that wasn't the case. You can't just ask them questions about a less popular name and expect less-informed people to know it's the same thing. Likewise, renaming it something else may even gain you even fewer unfavorables. Wow, they must really like the "Affordable Healthcare and America is the Best Act." Nevermind that it's the same as Obamacare--but that name does sound better and people aren't sure it's the same thing, so it'll poll better. ...or maybe if they're the same thing, it's most reasonable to just call it what it's called most often. That won't give you the answer you want, though.
  - croon 9y ago
    > If it were called Obamacare and ACA in the news media and politics equally, then yes. > ...but that wasn't the case. You can't just ask them questions about a less popular name and expect less-informed people to know it's the same thing. But that was the point. "Less-informed people" aren't disliking something based on its content, which was what you originally claimed, but based on its branding and ads (attack or otherwise). Yes, people don't want higher premiums, but they do want all the other stuff that comes with it. The results of similar polls will change dramatically once people experience what the effects of a repeal means. Which is proof that they don't answer to polls about the policies in it, but its brand.
    - moduspol 9y ago
      > Which is proof that they don't answer to polls about the policies in it, but its brand. It's proof that you can confuse people by calling something one thing for a few years and then ask them about something else and telling them good things about it. Virtually any policy can be made more popular this way.
      - croon 9y ago
        I guess we agree on the concept, but differ in assumption of whether ACA is unpopular due to smear or favorable in polls due to phrasing. I'm convinced that (while it having many flaws) no one in the poorer 80% of the country would prefer the AHCA over the ACA if informed on both. Which might seem obvious economically, but it's also clear that polling or voting doesn't turn out that way, which I take to mean that obfuscation through attack ads and aimed media is doing effective work.

croon 9y ago

> It is the policy that is disliked. If you ask them how much they like higher premiums, they will tell you. You can't just ask about the positive goals and pretend that means they like it. The policy is the entire package, and it includes both. If that was true the reaction would be the same to Obamacare and ACA, which it isn't.

moduspol 9y ago
If it were called Obamacare and ACA in the news media and politics equally, then yes. ...but that wasn't the case. You can't just ask them questions about a less popular name and expect less-informed people to know it's the same thing. Likewise, renaming it something else may even gain you even fewer unfavorables. Wow, they must really like the "Affordable Healthcare and America is the Best Act." Nevermind that it's the same as Obamacare--but that name does sound better and people aren't sure it's the same thing, so it'll poll better. ...or maybe if they're the same thing, it's most reasonable to just call it what it's called most often. That won't give you the answer you want, though.
- croon 9y ago
  > If it were called Obamacare and ACA in the news media and politics equally, then yes. > ...but that wasn't the case. You can't just ask them questions about a less popular name and expect less-informed people to know it's the same thing. But that was the point. "Less-informed people" aren't disliking something based on its content, which was what you originally claimed, but based on its branding and ads (attack or otherwise). Yes, people don't want higher premiums, but they do want all the other stuff that comes with it. The results of similar polls will change dramatically once people experience what the effects of a repeal means. Which is proof that they don't answer to polls about the policies in it, but its brand.
  - moduspol 9y ago
    > Which is proof that they don't answer to polls about the policies in it, but its brand. It's proof that you can confuse people by calling something one thing for a few years and then ask them about something else and telling them good things about it. Virtually any policy can be made more popular this way.
    - croon 9y ago
      I guess we agree on the concept, but differ in assumption of whether ACA is unpopular due to smear or favorable in polls due to phrasing. I'm convinced that (while it having many flaws) no one in the poorer 80% of the country would prefer the AHCA over the ACA if informed on both. Which might seem obvious economically, but it's also clear that polling or voting doesn't turn out that way, which I take to mean that obfuscation through attack ads and aimed media is doing effective work.